| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| Consonants |
| b |
bestia; embuste; vaca; envidia |
best |
| β |
bebé; obtuso; vivir; curva; ovni |
between baby and bevy |
| d |
dedo; cuando; aldaba |
dead |
| ð |
dádiva; arder; admirar; amistad |
this |
| f |
fase; café; nafta |
face |
| ɡ |
gato; lengua; guerra |
got |
| ɣ |
trigo; amargo; sigue; signo |
between a light go and ahold |
| ʝ |
ayuno; poyo |
between beige and due in RP English |
| k |
caña; laca; acto; bloc; quise; kilo |
scan |
| l |
lino; calor; alhaja; principal |
lean |
| ʎ |
llave; pollo |
roughly like million (merged with /ʝ/ in most dialects). |
| m |
madre; comer; campo; anfibio; convertir |
mother |
| n |
nido; anillo; anhelo; sin; álbum |
need |
| ɲ |
ñandú; cabaña |
roughly like canyon |
| ŋ |
cinco; venga; conquista; enjambre |
sink |
| p |
pozo; topo; apto |
spouse |
| r |
rumbo; carro; alrededor; enrollar; desraizar; subrayar; amor eterno |
trilled r |
| ɾ |
caro; bravo; amor eterno |
ladder in American English |
| s |
saco; casa; deshinchar; xerocopia; espita |
sack |
| θ |
cereal; encima; zorro; enzima; paz |
thing (in central and northern Spain only; elsewhere merged with /s/) |
| t |
tamiz; átomo; ritmo |
stand |
| tʃ |
chubasco; acechar |
choose |
| x |
jamón; eje; general; México; tejo; reloj |
loch (pronounced /h/ in many dialects; like ham) |
| z |
isla; mismo |
prison |
| Marginal phonemes |
| ʃ |
Kirchner; Xirau; xola; sherpa |
shack |
| tɬ |
tlapalería; cenzontle; Popocatépetl |
somewhat like cattle |
| ts |
Ertzaintza; abertzale; Pátzcuaro |
cats |